This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present subject matter described and/or claimed below. The discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present subject matter. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Computer servers are used by a wide array of users, which range from individual users hosting a website to large corporations that depend on a multitude of such systems in day-to-day operations. While a particular server may initially satisfy the requirements or performance desired by a user, the requirements or desires of that user may change over time. For instance, newer applications may be developed that consume more computing resources. Alternatively, in the case of an organization or website, a system administrator may need to increase the memory capacity and the processing power of a system to accommodate additional users or visitors. While certain individual components of the server may be replaced with more powerful components, this process is inefficient and may be insufficient to fully meet the increased performance demands. In such cases, a user often must resort to purchasing a new server to satisfy the new requirements or to meet the desired performance metric.